【双语灵修】信心创始成终者PIONEER AND PERFECTER OF FAITH

希伯来书 12:1-3

我们既有这许多的见证人，如同云彩围着我们，就当放下各样的重担，脱去容易缠累我们的罪，存心忍耐，奔那摆在我们前头的路程， 仰望为我们信心创始成终的耶稣。他因那摆在前面的喜乐，就轻看羞辱，忍受了十字架的苦难，便坐在神宝座的右边。 那忍受罪人这样顶撞的，你们要思想，免得疲倦灰心。

10月30日

信心创始成终者

“我们……存心忍耐，奔那摆在我们前头的路程，仰望为我们信心创始成终的耶稣。” - 希伯来书 12:1-2

今天所读的经文邀请我们思想，信仰生活乃是一场为我们量身定制的赛程。

谁曾走在我们前面，为我们定制了这条路？是耶稣—信心的先驱（或开拓者）。祂成就了一切，为我们预备了这份伟大的礼物。当我们深陷罪中，如同在黑暗中将灭亡的死人时，祂为我们开辟了道路（《以赛亚书》9:2；《以弗所书》2:1-5）。耶稣使我们的信心苏醒；祂称我们为义，使我们成圣，并在每一次试炼中扶持我们。耶稣为我们照亮前路，必定带领我们平安抵达祂所在之处。正如使徒保罗在《腓立比书》1章6 节中所说的：“那在你们心里动了善工的，必成全这工。”

有些《圣经》译本将耶稣在这里的角色描述为信心的“创始成终者”，这让我想起了我们家中的一些珍贵礼物。我的婆婆和已故的嫂子曾送给我们精美的手工缝被。她们“创始”了这些珍宝—在方格纸上设计图案、挑选颜色、裁剪布料，并缝合在一起。她们也完美地“成终”了这些艺术品—直到最后一针包边。我领受这恩典的礼物，安息在他人早已成就的善工里。

在我们的信仰生活中，我们依靠耶稣已成就的工作。从始至终，我们可以定睛于祂，跟随祂的引领，每一步都依靠祂的引导和祂已完成的工作。

祷告

信心的创始成终者啊，若没有你，我们会在哪里？主啊，求你引领、引导我们，愿我们安息在你里面。阿们。

Hebrews 12:1-3

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30

PIONEER AND PERFECTER OF FAITH

Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. —Hebrews 12:1-2

Our reading today invites us to reflect on the life of faith as a race marked out for us.

And who has gone before us to mark it out? Jesus, the pioneer (or trailblazer) of faith.

He did it all, providing this great gift for us. He paved the way when we were so lost in our sin that we were like dead people walking in darkness (Isaiah 9:2; Ephesians 2:1-5). He made us alive to faith. He justified us, he sanctified us, and he sustains us through every trial. Jesus lights the way for us, and he will bring us safely through to where he is. As the apostle Paul describes it in Philippians 1:6, “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion.”

Some Bible translations describe Jesus’ role here as the “author and finisher” of faith, and that reminds me of some treasured gifts that grace our family’s home. My mother-inlaw and late sister-in-law gifted us with beautiful, handmade quilts. They “authored” these treasures, designing them on graph paper, choosing colors, cutting pieces of fabric, and quilting them together. They also “finished” these artworks beautifully, down to the last binding stitch. I benefit from these gifts of grace, resting under someone else’s finished work.

In our life of faith, we depend on Jesus’ accomplished work. From start to finish, we can fix our eyes on him, following his lead and relying on his guidance and finished work every step of the way.

Pioneer and Perfecter of faith, where would we be without you? Lead and guide us, Lord, and may we rest in you. Amen.